Fitaloon at MicroShaft

The Caley has been taking a bit of a blasting from the SNP, but this article should have them really boiling over. They seem to have a fatal attraction for anything that hints at them not doing so well in the polls.

Surely at some point they will work out they are having the piss taken out of them….

…. The Cal Merc has this:

SOMETIMES you have to wonder whether our political leaders think before they act.

This morning the Scottish Government issued a consultation on – rabbits.

The consultation seeks views on the welfare of rabbits kept as pets. This does not cover the welfare of rabbits farmed for food, oh no, that will doubtless be the subject of something bigger and more substantial.

In the scale of the Scottish Government’s £30 billion budget, it probably doesn’t amount to much more than a hill of lettuce leaves, but the fact that officials believe this is a good thing to be spending money on at this time does seem out of touch, at the very least.

Labour certainly seem to think so.

Ian Davidson, Labour MP for Glasgow South West, said: “I don’t know why lemmings are so concerned about rabbits.
“We are coming out of the worst economic crisis since the Second World War but it seems to have escaped the attention of SNP ministers.
“Their job is to help get people back into work. Instead of cutting teacher numbers or cancelling vital capital investment, they are worrying about rabbits.
“They’ll probably want a referendum on the outcome of their consultation.”

Rabbiting on | Caledonian Mercury – Politics.

SNP Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged the public to become “counter-fraud champions” four months after she took up the case of a convicted benefits conman, it emerged on Monday. The video of her speech is here.

So why was she saying a fraudster should not get a custodial sentence, though perhaps she thinks stealing from the NHS, is more important that stealing from us.

In her speech she has this to say:

“Anyone contemplating fraud against the NHS should be aware that they will be caught, and if they are caught, they will have to face the consequences of their fraudulent actions.

“Fraudsters in any walk of life are opportunistic, tend to be fairly entrepreneurial, and will take the opportunity to exploit any weakness in the organisation they target.

“Let me be clear today about what is a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and to fraudsters. Fraud perpetrated against the NHS is, in my view, a fraud perpetrated against each and every one of us and that is why it is so important to combat it.

“So it does make sense for all of us, in our own ways and in our own roles, to act as counter-fraud champions.”

So as a “champion” she urges the courts not to send Abdul Rauf to prison. This must be a new definition of  “Zero Tolerance”.

It remains, that what was likely a  minor error on the part of a one of Sturgeon’s staff has been turned into a major stooshie. She has only herself to blame for this. A little humility and the acceptance of, perhaps, an error could  have turned this into a minor issue. Instead the SNP have turned this into a major story and issue for them in the run up to a General Election.

Nicola Sturgeon lauded anti-fraud measures after taking up Rauf case | Scotland | STV News.

The Tories and the SNP have a reasonable relationship now in Scotland and with the Referendum having to be shelved fore the moment the Tories  have a chance to build on this relationship as they move into Government.

David Cameron has been addressing the Tory Conference in Perth and has promised.

“That will signal the beginning of a new relationship, a fresh start, based on mutual respect,” he will say, adding: “It will be good for Scotland, good for Britain and good for the Union.”

Mr Cameron will also say he takes seriously the recommendations of the Calman Commission – which called for more powers for the Scottish Parliament – and wants to make devolution stronger.

“Not just because it is a weapon against the Nationalists’ obsession with independence – but because devolution should be central to our whole political approach,” he will say.

“Today we are the party that passionately believes that local is best, the party that knows that the more power people have, the more responsible they become, the more fulfilled they are – we are the party of decentralisation.”

Please, this is the way to go in Scotland.

BBC News – David Cameron promises ‘fresh start’ with SNP.

Sure to be much wailing and gnashing of Teeth from the SNP at this story. The BBC has this

Scotland’s deputy first minister has written a letter of support for a man who could be jailed over benefit fraud.

Nicola Sturgeon asked the court to consider “alternatives to a custodial sentence” in the case of Abdul Rauf.

The 60-year-old, who is a constituent of Ms Sturgeon, defrauded £80,000 from the Department of Work and Pensions.

Labour said she had made an “appalling error of judgement” and should resign. The SNP said her representations on behalf of a constituent were routine.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard how Rauf admitted failing to declare a property in Newington, Edinburgh, worth £200,000 on his application for income support.

He subsequently received £650 a month in rent while he claimed the benefits between 2001 and 2006.

At the same time he was living in a £400,000 house in Glasgow’s Maxwell Park area.

When the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) later discovered that he owned the Edinburgh property Rauf said he did not declare it as it had “slipped my mind”.

Oops, major Sturgeon fail.

BBC News – Minister intervenes in fraud case.

A visit to Culloden in Summer 2009. The visitor centre there is superb and well worth an extended Visit and the GPS enabled guide round the battlefield they provide is a great idea.

Of course you don’t want to have anything to do with the those nasty Nats who may be sponsoring free trips to Culloden in case they  indoctrinate you with a ‘narrow nationalist’ view of Scots history.